If you earn less than $100,000 a year, you may find it difficult to secure a rental apartment in the top 15 cities in the United States. In fact, a recent report from Apartment Guide found that households need an annual income of at least $254,000 to rent an average apartment in New York City and $188,000 for a rental in Boston.
Rounding out the top five expensive U.S. cities for rentals are Oakland, California, with income requirements of over $177,000, followed by San Francisco at $173,400 and Los Angeles at $158,000.
Apartment Guide studied the top 50 largest cities and determined average rental costs for one- and two-bedroom apartments in each location.  The average rent in New York City is a staggering $6,351, compared with $4,700 for Boston and $4,336 for San Francisco. The popular national resource that matches renters with apartments uses the widely-accepted “30 percent rule,” meaning people should spend no more than 30 percent of their income on housing….